To update members about the proposed local
government bill, to highlight the key differences from the previous
proposals and to take views on those proposals in order to provide
a consultation response

That the views on the proposals
within the White Paper relating to the business of the Standards
Committee be reported in response to the consultation.

Minutes:

The
Monitoring Officer presented a report on the proposals set out in
the Welsh Government (WG) White Paper ‘Reforming Local
Government: Resilient and Renewed’ which was out for
consultation. The aim of the White
Paper was to set out a broad programme of local government reform
including improvement in the quality of leadership and
accountability in councils. The
implications of the proposals relating to the duties and business
of standards committees were summarised and views were sought to
respond to WG by the deadline.

(i) Duties on members of County
Councils to show how they communicate and engage with their
electorate and the role of standards committees in providing advice
and training to members about their new duties

RobertDewey
felt that the document implied that WG was adopting its own view on
how best to deal with constituents and that the ‘appetite for
reform supported by greater regional working’ did not conform
with the general opinion.

During discussion on the proposal for a councillor to be removed
from office in the event of a breach of duties, the threshold of
more than 20% of the electorate signing a petition was questioned
as election turnouts often failed to achieve that level.

PhillipaEarlam sought clarity on funding for
the additional duties and training, as well as details on the
process for a petition and whether this would be available
electronically, which gave rise to concerns about the authenticity
of signatures. The Monitoring Officer
advised of comparative legislative provisions on petitions in
England but said that such petitions could involve logistical
issues when checking the authenticity of signatories.

With
regard to advice and guidance on the new duties for members, a
number of training sessions had been scheduled after the
forthcoming Elections with which members of the Standards Committee
could be involved if they wished.
Robert Dewey expressed an interest in taking part.

Councillor Arnold Woolley felt that a basic training framework
should be adopted for councillors to achieve or train towards an
appropriate standard. He went on to
share his concerns on other aspects of the White Paper such as the
proposed restructuring of Overview & Scrutiny and Audit
Committees, the reduction in town/community councils and the impact
on county councils if the role of town/community councils was
strengthened. He also felt that the
practice of holding councillor surgeries was not successful in
engaging with constituents. On the aim
to encourage a broader range of councillors to better represent the
demographics, he pointed out the time needed to carry out the role
which presented challenges for those in employment.

(ii) Duties
on leaders of political groups to promote good standards of conduct
amongst their members and to co-operate with standards committees
in exercising their functions

The
Monitoring Officer explained that the proposals in relation to
Group Leaders were to be welcomed though there were already strong
Group Leaders who tackled such issues anyway. He suggested that the Committee may wish to
explore this proposal further by meeting with Group ...
view the full minutes text for item 36.

To advise members of the proposed training
materials agreed with the WLGA and to seek approval of those
materials for use by the Monitoring Officer and Deputy Monitoring
Officer for delivering training to new and returning
councillors

That the content of the
training materials for the purpose of providing training to new and
returning county councillors, and town and community councillors,
be approved.

Minutes:

The
Deputy Monitoring Officer presented a report on training materials
produced by the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) for new
and returning councillors to assist them in understanding the
implications of the Code of Conduct.
These were intended to be a generic Member training framework to be
adapted locally by councils for their own use.

PhillipaEarlam indicated her interest in the
forthcoming Member training sessions, as had Robert Dewey earlier
in the meeting. It was agreed that the
Committee Officer would circulate details of the
sessions.

Councillor Arnold Woolley said that Member attendance at
training sessions should be published online. Ken Molyneux felt it
would be useful to display the general principles of Member conduct
on a reference card.

RESOLVED:

That the content of the
training materials for the purpose of providing training to new and
returning county councillors, and town and community councillors,
be approved.